That the World May Know: Bearing Witness to Atrocity

by James Dawes

Overview

Listen to a short interview with James DawesHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane

After the worst thing in the world happens, then what? What is left to the survivors, the witnesses, those who tried to help? What can we do to prevent more atrocities from happening in the future, and to stop the ones that are happening right now? That the World May Know tells the powerful and moving story of the successes and failures of the modern human rights movement. Drawing on firsthand accounts from fieldworkers around the world, the book gives a painfully clear picture of the human cost of confronting inhumanity in our day.

There is no dearth of such stories to tell, and James Dawes begins with those that emerged from the Rwandan genocide. Who, he asks, has the right to speak for the survivors and the dead, and how far does that right go? How are these stories used, and what does this tell us about our collective moral future? His inquiry takes us to a range of crises met by a broad array of human rights and humanitarian organizations. Here we see from inside the terrible stresses of human rights work, along with its curious seductions, and the myriad paradoxes and quandaries it presents.

With pathos, compassion, and a rare literary grace, this book interweaves personal stories, intellectual and political questions, art and aesthetics, and actual "news" to give us a compelling picture of humanity at its conflicted best, face-to-face with humanity at its worst.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674026230
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	09/30/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

James Dawes is DeWitt Wallace Professor of English at Macalester College.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Genocide

2. Interrogation

3. Burnout

4. Storytelling

Afterword

Notes Acknowledgments Index

What People are Saying About This

That the World May Know explores the double binds that attract, reward and torment those engaged in human rights and humanitarian work on the front lines of intervention. Because of its combination of interview and literary material, it presents a rich and diverse set of data to the reader. No one has so far written a book quite like this.

Jacqueline Bhabha

That the World May Know explores the double binds that attract, reward and torment those engaged in human rights and humanitarian work on the front lines of intervention. Because of its combination of interview and literary material, it presents a rich and diverse set of data to the reader. No one has so far written a book quite like this.
— Jacqueline Bhabha, Executive Director, Harvard University Committee on Human Rights Studies

Editorial Reviews

Dawes maintains a remarkable balance of tone, searchingly sympathetic yet calmly analytical.

The Guardian - Steven Poole

Anyone concerned with human rights—with humanity in general—will come away from James Dawes' That The World May Know troubled and well informed...During the last 30 years, Americans have seen images of or read about genocide, torture, and violent political repression in Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Darfur, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Nigeria, and Argentina. Dawes' book asks us to think about how stories of atrocity are told, who gets to tell them, how those stories affect us, and ultimately what good they may or may not do.

Texas Observer - Tom Palaima

That the World May Know explores the double binds that attract, reward and torment those engaged in human rights and humanitarian work on the front lines of intervention. Because of its combination of interview and literary material, it presents a rich and diverse set of data to the reader. No one has so far written a book quite like this.

Jacqueline Bhabha

Anyone concerned with human rights—with humanity in general—will come away from James Dawes' That The World May Know troubled and well informed...During the last 30 years, Americans have seen images of or read about genocide, torture, and violent political repression in Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Darfur, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Nigeria, and Argentina. Dawes' book asks us to think about how stories of atrocity are told, who gets to tell them, how those stories affect us, and ultimately what good they may or may not do.
— Tom Palaima

Texas Observer

Dawes maintains a remarkable balance of tone, searchingly sympathetic yet calmly analytical.
— Steven Poole

The Guardian